Calm and Chilly

2014-03-06 18:48:47.000 – Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Bluebird Skies

If you were to judge strictly by the weather today, you wouldn’t know that my place of work is often referred to as the ‘home of the world’s worst weather.’

It’s true that we’ve seen our fair share of tumultuous conditions, but today, March 6th, contained nothing of the sort. In fact, today was the ultimate antithesis.

As I compose this comment at approx. 5:30 PM, we still have yet to report a single layer of clouds in any of our hourly observations since midnight. This is quite remarkable, considering our horizontal visibility today has ranged between 120 and 130 miles, which are just about maximum for our station.

In addition to the remarkably clear skies, winds have been quite tranquil throughout the day as well. Since 11AM this morning, hourly average wind speeds have been no greater than 9 mph, with the 11AM-12PM ranking as the calmest hour of the day, averaging a feeble 4 mph. In fact, there was a 3-minute period during the 11AM-12PM hour where the propellers on our incredibly-sensitive RM Young Anemometer were not turning at all. That’s right–3 straight minutes of flat calm winds, which, in a place with a year-round average wind speed of 35 mph, boasting hurricane force winds every other day during the wintertime, is astounding!

What’s with the calm, you ask? These effects are the result of a strong high pressure system in place over New England, which is also providing the valleys with this continued streak of very-cold temperatures. A slight warm up is in the cards over the next two days, but after that, unfortunately, for those who are ready for signs of spring, long-range numbers are not trending all too warm. Spring will have to wait a bit longer.

Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist